


Love

by leowritestuff



Series: On Gender and Sexuality [4]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aromantic Character, Gen, Mai (Avatar)-Centric, Past Relationship(s), past Mai/zuko
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 09:42:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13679142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leowritestuff/pseuds/leowritestuff
Summary: Mai's relationship with love.





	Love

**Author's Note:**

> I bet you guys where expecting something Zukka for Valentine's Day for me huh? Well I would have wrote something, except I couldn't think of any ideas. Instead, with my own aversion to Valentine's Day as I am aromantic, I decided why not project onto a character huh? And my favorite aroace is Mai herself. Of course, the asexual thing isn't mentioned here as Valentine's Day is a romantic thing, not a sexual one.

Mai had always had a weird relationship with her crushes. 

She had then when she was younger of course. Or, at the least, she thought she had at the moment. Now that she was thinking about it, now that she was comparing it to new information, she wasn't quite she if "crush" was the right word for it. But words did she have? 

Around Ty Lee and Azula, Mai didn't seem quite so weird. Well, rather, she didn't seem weird in the way she did around the other people at school. 

Azula never had a crush on anyone when they were kids. Or at least she never said anything about them. If she did now, Mai wouldn't know. Azula was locked up in an insane asylum, too incoherent for people to understand. The only person who would know if Azula would have a crush at this point would be Azula herself. Even if Azula was right in the head, at this point in her life, Mai didn't want to go and ask. She knew better. 

Ty Lee didn't have crushes either, or at least Mai thinks. She would talk about everyone with the same adoration in her voice. It was as if Ty Lee liked everyone and no one at the same time. Even now, Mai didn't quite know for sure, but as Ty Lee had joined the Kyoshi Warriors (which was great for Ty Lee, she loved it and Mai liked seeing her friend happy, even if it was weird for the girl who so enjoyed individuality to become part of such a universal team) they didn't talk very much anymore. Which was a shame. Mai liked Ty Lee. 

Mai was the one who had crushes. Why? Because everyone else in school had them. Because her parents expected her to have them, and Mai had to do as her parents wanted to get what she wanted. That was the way it worked. Every crush of Mai's had had a logical reasoning behind it. 

It took herself a while to realize that crushes weren't logical. 

Mai's crushed were boys of course, thats whats to be expected, what her parents wanted, and looked nice too of course. The person had to look nice for you to have a crush on them. Pretty like red of a fire lily, or the still sea.

Mai didn't know that people's "prettiness" and nature's "prettiness" where not suppose to be anything a like. Thinking people where pretty wasn't suppose to be objective. 

Mai's crushes were nice as well, you can't get a long with someone who's mean. And obedient, just like her parents wanted. Mai's parents also liked it when Mai had a crush on people with a lot of power, so thats who Mai choose. She choose crushes who where boys, where cute, nice, obedient, and power. 

Mai didn't realize at that time a crush wasn't something you could choose. 

Mai had had a crush on Zuko. At least thought she did. 

Was Zuko a boy? Yes.  
Was Zuko "cute"? Yes, one could say that.   
Was Zuko kind? Yes.   
Was Zuko obedient? He did everything his father ever told him too. (Now Mai knew the reason why, and part of her wishes she didn't.)  
Did Zuko have power? Behind Iroh, Lu Ten, and Ozai, Zuko was the fourth in line for the throne. So yes, he did.   
Zuko was a perfect crush. 

Azula had picked up on that, of course. Azula had invited Zuko over to play a game with the rest of them (read: Mai). Azula had placed an apple on Mai's head and shoot fire at it, saying the game was to try to knock down the apple. Apparently, Zuko had thought the game was actually to knock Mai down into the fountain. Mai had told her parents about it afterwards, and Mai's mother had gushed about it, saying it was so sweet for him to try to save her. Mai had smiled at the time, and at one point of her life she would have thought it was because she liked Zuko. 

No. It was because someone was trying to save her from Azula's cruel game. 

Before Zuko had been banished they had become good friends. When he had left, Mai was sad. She thought it was because she had loved him. But she didn't really, not yet. She had cared about him, he was a good friend. 

Zuko had come back and they had dated. Mai was more messed up then she cared to admit, hiding it behind a wall of nothing. Zuko was more messed up then he cared to tell anyone, hiding it behind a wall of anger. They where messed up, they where broken. But they where broken together. Zuko wasn't just a boyfriend at that point. Zuko was Mai's best friend, her escape. Zuko was the temporary break from Azula's cruel games. Zuko always tried to make her smile. A few times he did. 

Then Zuko had left. Left her a note, telling her what he was to do. He was trying to protect her, just like he would, even though Mai did not need protection. It was like when Zuko left, part of Mai's heart went too. Mai was afraid for Zuko, doing something so dangerous. Angry too, for doing something so stupid at wrong. Sad also, for Mai's best friend had left. Terrified, because Mai was stuck with Azula. Zuko had managed to make Mai care about things, at least more than she did before. Mai realized she loved Zuko. 

So, she saved his life and risked her own. 

Mai's relationship with love was weird. Her crushes never really existed in the first place, just made up to fit in, to do what was expected of her. Mai cared a lot about Ty Lee, though she was simply one of Mai's closest friends and Mai never thought of Ty Lee being any different. Mai loved Zuko, even though Zuko loved someone else. 

But it didn't really matter to Mai, not really. Zuko was still Mai's best friend, even if he didn't love Mai romantically. 

And really, thats all Mai wanted.


End file.
